Picnics, Parades, Fireworks Add Up To One Thing: Stress

Not to be a party poop, but the pleasure of the extra-long holiday weekend may lie more in the anticipation than the execution.

What with all the stresses associated with acting patriotic, surviving traffic, figuring out which of two dozen barbecues to attend, withstanding the banality of slaw, keeping all limbs intact and fighting over whether to see "Pocahontas" or "Casper," the time is ripe for a new holiday tradition, perhaps one involving a long weekend filled with sloth and idleness.

Since this year's 4th falls on a Tuesday, many working people are taking Monday off, adding yet another 24 hours of stress.

There is the stress of evenly distributing the mini-marshmallows in the Jello mold and of traveling at an acceptable speed past some 600 additional state police officers. And there is that choice of which fireworks show to see: Chicago's on Monday night, and Evanston's, Rolling Meadows', Arlington Heights' or Elk Grove Village's on Tuesday night?

At the Taste of Chicago, which ends Tuesday, will it be chocolate chimichangas or cheesecake-on-a-stick? Should the family take the risk and watch Monday night's downtown fireworks from atop the new Navy Pier Ferris wheel or play it safe on a blanket in Grant Park?

Family gatherings that cross generations can be seriously stressful for some, warned Nada Stotland, associate psychiatry professor at the University of Chicago. It is particularly so when there are different opinions on how to raise children, how to behave and how much drinking is acceptable.

"People are under pressure to have a good time," Stotland added. "There's a lot of work to do, and there can be tensions over how the workload gets divided up."

Let's not forget the weather. To picnic outside or in? Bob Wimmer of the National Weather Service in Romeoville reported that people have been calling since the beginning of the week, hoping to dial up sunshine.

While most callers have been understanding about his inability to precisely predict the future too far in advance, he has had a hard time getting any work done.

"I've been trying to do the forecast for Lake Michigan for recreational boating," said Wimmer, who has been bombarded with calls. "I've been trying to do that for the last half-hour."

On the more serious side, by Wednesday, Chicago-area residents probably will hear stories involving limbs and firecrackers. Still, doctors said that by far the greatest hazard over the weekend will come from car accidents.

A year ago there were eight fatal crashes throughout the state and 21 the year before. Nearly 60 percent of all holiday traffic injuries are alcohol-related.

"There will be people going to and from events, people who will be drinking," said Tom Esposito, assistant director of the Burn and Shock Trauma Institute at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. "We will see many more people injured from motor vehicle crashes than fireworks-related injuries."

Esposito had a few suggestions: "The safest way to enjoy the 4th is not to drink, go to a professional fireworks display, and if you want to do something for your kids, you can use noisemakers or those little glow-in-the-dark wands."

Parents and others were philosophical.

"We may eat more than we should, but hey, it's the 4th of July," said Barb Mintert while on a visit to the Seascape waterpark in Hoffman Estates with her two children, 6-year-old Jeff and 3-year-old Laura. "Everyone does it."

Grace Pyter, 34, of Schaumburg plans to spend the weekend planting flowers and pulling weeds in her back-yard garden, perhaps to ease the transition back to work on Wednesday.

"It's going to be painful," said Pyter, an office manager. "Let's just say I don't want to think of that until it happens."